June 1st marks the beginning of not only Pride Month but also the summer of gaming, with major events like Summer Game Fest, gamescom, and a pile of gaming showcases coming our way. No one knows that better than a queer indie game studio, and Diamond Dust Games is ready to kick off Pride with some major gaming announcements for the queer community.
Coming up on June 6th, as a part of the Summer Game Fest season, Diamond Dust Games will be featured in the Gayming Pride Parade at 12 pm PT on The Game Awards YouTube and Twitch channels. The studio will be showing off its first title, Neon Death Drop, alongside games like Wylde Society, Art of Solitaire, and Spill the Beans. The stream will even be hosted by award-winning streamer MiladyConfetti and RuPaul’s Drag Race star Jax!
Ahead of the Gayming Pride Parade, I was able to chat with the founder of Diamond Dust Games, Mark Shteller, to learn more about Neon Death Drop, representation in games, and what being a queer indie studio really means.
Let’s start off by telling us who you are and a little about Diamond Dust Games.
Mark Shteller: I’m the founder of Diamond Dust Games, a queer indie game company based in the San Francisco Bay Area.
A big part of the company’s identity is being a queer studio. What does that mean to you, and what has the response been so far?
Mark Shteller: In mainstream media, when a queer story or character is being presented, it’s usually a tragedy. For me, being queer is literally about being gay. It’s about joy. I want to amplify this sentiment to the mainstream so everyone can bask in the joy of being proudly themselves. Gender? Sexuality? It’s all a performance, bro. Just have fun with it. The world is already stressful enough.
I wanted to assemble a team of creatives who understand the queer experience. I’ve been a developer in the game industry for over 10 years, and I have very rarely gotten to collaborate with other like-minded developers. I believe that what makes us unique and different in society is also our greatest asset in the creative process.
And the response so far? Surprisingly positive, I must say. Women universally seem to resonate with our mission. Gay men are a little more critical, but what else is new… I get it, though; they just want to feel represented. With decades of portraying gays as villains in media, I understand the fear attached to this.
Video games have primarily been considered a straight male pastime. That has been proven wrong more and more in recent years. Can you tell us about your or your team’s love of gaming and how that helped you as a studio and with your first game, Neon Death Drop?
Mark Shteller: Yes! It’s been wonderful to see the industry openly embrace a wider demographic. I remember when the first Sims game came out and was a smash hit overnight (shoutout to The Sims for allowing same sex relations from day 1), so the truth is, gaming has been for everyone for quite a long time now.
One of my team’s biggest inspirations was Bayonetta. The feminine power, the sass, the ass. My writer, Nick, and I would always reference her fierce attitude when writing our main character, Seraph.
Give us the premise for your first game, Neon Death Drop. What kind of game is it, and what can players expect from it?
Mark Shteller: In Neon Death Drop, players step into the stilettos of Seraph, a gay go-go dancer armed with earth-bending choreography to combat hordes of malfunctioning robots in the futuristic city of Bavelle. Seraph’s kinetic superpowers allow players to manipulate the environment, flinging enemies into oblivion and sashaying across the battlefield to outmaneuver adversaries.
At its core, the game is a style-driven action game where players can rack up major combos if they take advantage of all of Seraph’s kinetic tricks and stunts.
Where did the idea for Neon Death Drop come from? Did you find inspiration from any other games aside from Bayonetta?
Mark Shteller: Ron, the concept artist, was inspired by Transistor (Supergiant’s game prior to Hades) when he was designing the architecture of the city of Bavelle. We decided to lean more heavily into the Art Deco style while imagining what it would look like decades from now.
The go-go dancing aspect was easy — I am a go-go dancer myself here in SF at many queer events. I was hesitant at first to include that aspect in the game, but my team encouraged me, and I’m glad they did.
Environmental manipulation was in the prototype from day one. As a lover of action games like Devil May Cry, Hades, and, of course, Bayonetta, I always felt that their worlds were a little too static. I wanted to design a gameplay loop where players take command of the environment and use it to their advantage.
I am loving the reference to death drops in your game, Neon Death Drop (and am disappointed I didn’t get the reference until I saw the trailer). Are you worried that some of the references are going to go unnoticed or not be understood by a general audience, or is this game specifically made for the queer by the queer?
Mark Shteller: We are very mindful of the references we put in the game, but we’re not worried about them going over some people’s heads (in my opinion, that’s what makes references so fun). Nick, the writer, wanted to create a slang dictionary that would be unique to our world, since it’s set 1000 years into the future, and not rely too heavily on quotes from RuPaul’s Drag Race.
On the other hand, we are offering a unique take on action gameplay that’s not found in other games. I playtested the game’s demo (now available on Steam) with many straight action game players. And while the aesthetic was a little “too much pink” for some of them, they praise the tactical aspect of making pits in the ground and dunking enemies in them with combos and style.
Queer studio, queer game. Is that the plan going forward, or will Diamond Dust Games eventually take on games that might be considered more mainstream?
Mark Shteller: We will always strive to include as many people as possible in our target audience. The popularity of Drag Race, The Last of Us, Heated Rivalry, etc., shows that mainstream audiences will show up if the content is good – regardless of if it’s queer or not.
Just for fun, what is your favourite thing about Neon Death Drop, whether it is a character, a zone, a line, etc?
Mark Shteller: That ice lattes are literally life in the game!
But more seriously, my favourite part of Neon Death Drop is the relationship between Seraph, who’s a cute bubbly twink, and his love interest Leo, who is a big strong daddy bear. I have never seen this sort of dynamic portrayed in media before. For example, early in the game, Seraph is placed in the heroic saviour role and saves Leo from the rogue Power Bots, essentially reversing the traditional protector stereotypes.
Is there anything else you’d like our readers to know about Diamond Dust Games or Neon Death Drop?
Mark Shteller: Please wishlist Neon Death Drop on Steam, play the public demo and leave a review! We wanna hear your feedback!
And lastly, click the “Notify me on launch” button on our Kickstarter page to receive updates on our upcoming campaign.
The industry is in a tough position right now with budget cuts and layoffs everywhere. We can only make this game a reality with support from you, the audience. So if, like us, you feel that a game like Neon Death Drop should exist, please share and support us on Kickstarter.
Neon Death Drop does not have an official release date just yet. For more from Diamond Dust Games, Neon Death Drop and the queer side of the gaming industry as a whole, make sure to tune into the Gayming Pride Parade on June 6th at 12 pm PT on The Game Awards YouTube and Twitch channels as part of Summer Game Fest weekend programming.
